Friday, March 16, 2018

Home Exterior Painting Decisions: A Gray Area (Part IV)

Someone send help. I've been sucked into a world of grays and I can't get out. If you can't tell by the post title, this situation has gotten a bit out of control. What started out as just three paint swatches grew to five, then ten, and now... 


I've somewhat reined myself in when it comes to buying actual paint samples though — only seven of those (so far). After initially debating between several Sherwin Williams colors in the gray family, I decided I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't also check out some Benjamin Moore colors. Upon a visit to the paint department in Ace Hardware, it looked like Ben Moore offered a couple promising gray options: Kendall Charcoal and Chelsea Gray

Once I painted these two samples on the house next to those from the first round, I definitely liked the Kendall Charcoal better than SW Peppercorn (which now appeared more blue-ish and too dark). Kendall was like a happy medium between the Peppercorn and Gauntlet Gray.

This photo is the best I could get, but it's a little tricky. This doesn't show as much difference between Kendall Charcoal and Peppercorn as real life. I also think the sample paints have more of a sheen and reflect more light than the actual exterior paint formula will.


Anyhow, let's not forget Chelsea Gray! At the store I admittedly didn't think this one would be as strong of a contender, but I was pleasantly surprised once it was painted on the house. It's a great mid-tone gray and I've since read a handful of decorating blogs (like this one and this one) that call it a "true" neutral and a fantastic choice for home exterior color.

So just looking at the Benjamin Moore colors now... here's a comparison of Kendall Charcoal and Chelsea Gray painted around the corner on the back (south) side of the house:


And here they are on a small section of siding on the front of our house — definitely important to consider how the color will look next to this reddish-orange brick. Oh, and we also plan on keeping with white trim.


All these swatches and samples have been overwhelming, but it just goes to show that you never can tell until you get the colors on the house next to each other. It feels like we're finally headed in a good direction with our top contenders at this point (Kendall Charcoal, Chelsea Gray, and probably still Gauntlet Gray). Now the hubby and I just need to see if we can come to an agreement on one!

Have you used any of these colors before? What would you pick??




20 comments:

Unknown said...

We painted our house Gauntlet Grey and love it!
Good luck in picking

CIELO said...

We're painting our home this spring and as you, I'm also debating on BM Chelsea Gray and Kendall Charcoal. I'm curious to know which one you chose! They're both so gorgeous colors!

Cielo

Unknown said...

We are going through the same process! I believe we’ve landed on SW Tin Lizzie. Have you seen that one?

Amanda @ Little House on the Corner said...

Thank you! I think Gauntlet Grey is definitely one of those colors you can't go wrong with!

Amanda @ Little House on the Corner said...

Oh really?? Then I guess you can really understand my pain, lol! So actually, I ended up going back to get a new custom sample made of Kendall Charcoal at 75% (so, 25% lighter). And I'm really liking how that looks, so that maybe the direction we go... Ugh, such a struggle!

Amanda @ Little House on the Corner said...

It definitely rings a bell, but we must have ruled it out at some point during this grueling process, lol. Good luck to you, hope you love the end result!!

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing. I love the all of the colors you provided and painting the colors next to each other to surely helps narrow down to "favorites". Painting them on (it appears) a few places on the outside of the house (not something I considered, before) also helps to see how the colors actually look in depth/tone, in the natural lighting; so helpful. Best to you!

MelB said...

Hi Amanda, we considering building a house with gray siding and red brick. I was wondering if you had concluded on your choice of color and have photos of the finished work?
Thanks for posting! Great idea to paint on the house the various samples, you really get to see the various nuances in the colors!
Cheers,
Melanie

Amanda @ Little House on the Corner said...

Hi MelB - Yes, we ultimately decided on Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal at 75% strength! I love how it turned out and you can see the "after" photos on this blog post: http://ourhouseonthecorner.blogspot.com/2018/06/home-exterior-painting-perfect-gray.html

Thank you!

Amanda @ Little House on the Corner said...

Many thanks for the kind comment!

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Anonymous said...

We are painting our siding SW peppercorn but was thinking of maybe painting the board & batton a lighter grey...any suggestions of a grey that will go with peppercorn?

kt said...

nyc

Drucifer said...

Interesting. I stick exclusively with SW colors, so I don't make myself crazy with too many choices. SW alone gets me into enough trouble.

karthick said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amanda @ Little House on the Corner said...

I think that is a very smart idea!

Amanda @ Little House on the Corner said...

Hi Brandy - sorry for my delay! Did you ever pick a lighter gray color? It seems like going a shade or two up on that same color strip is usually pretty safe, which would be Cityscape or Tin Lizzie in this case. SW has the full color strip on their website: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW7674-peppercorn#/7674/?s=coordinatingColors&p=PS0

Unknown said...

HELP! Looing for recommendations for the following:
#1 - Base House Colour is Kendall Charcoal - MB
Trim is white dove - MB
Front door colour needs to be picked? Any ideas of what would look great with the kendall charcoal?

#2 - Another house I need help with is:
base is Chelsea Gray
I need to find a trim colour that isn't white. Looking for a medium colour earthy tones and then a front door colour. ANY suggestions would help greatly.

please email: rochellearlitt@telus.net

James Franklin said...

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SF House Painting said...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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